Floating axle for automobiles.



APPLICATION FILED OCT-1. [913.

C. S. WEIGELT.

FLOATING AXLE FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Patented Jul 24, 1917.

6! iiprrzzr n UN l'lFD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. WEIGELT, OF BALDWINSVILLE, NEW YORK.

FLOATING AXLE FOB, AUTOMOBILES.

Application flied October L 1913.

To all whom it may concern.

no it known that I, (n.inm-zs S. Winona/r, of llaldwinsville, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have inrented new and useful Improvements in .l loating Axles for Automobiles, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

, This invention relates to certain improvemerits in floating or semi-floating axles for automobiles and similar machines in which motor-driven axle sections are operated through the medium of dillerential gearing Inlmostof the automobiles now in use, these axle-sections are mounted in a hollow casing on the rear of the truck to carry the traction wheels and suitable brake drums adjacent thereto and also the differential gears, the casing being enlarged around the. gearing to protect the same against the entra-noe of dust and other foreign matter and to also contain a quantity of lubricant as oil, for reducing friction between the inter-meshin gears.

IInder this construction there is always more or lessopeu passage or communication along the floating or semi-floating axles between the oil containing gear case and brake drums to such a degree at least that therotary action of the gears and axles operates to force a greater or less quantity of oil from the gear case to the brake drum which not only reduces the clticieucy of the brake by rausing it to slip but also causes Such oil to leak out from the brakes and to be sputtered by rentrit'ugal force. over the, adjacent parts of the machine. I

The object of my invention is to (llJYHll'C these objectionable results by providing each a xle section with an oil-retarding device lorated between the end of such axle section and ditt'erential gear case to c umterart any tendency of oil to flow to the brakes.

- In other words, I have sought to prevent the escape of oil from the gear case to the brakes by means of spiral ribs rotating with their respective axle. sections in the annular spaces between said sections and adjacent portions of the inclosing ease and also between the gear case and brakes and pitched to oppose the flow of oil to the bearings for the outer ends of the axles.

Other objects and uses of the device will be brought out in the following description.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jul 24. ltli7.

floating axle section -1- arranged end to end within a suitable housing or easing--2-- having a gear case 3- int-losing the ordi-' nary differential gears -'l.for transniitting rotary motion from the main driving shaft as 5 to the axle sections -l-.

Secured to the extreme outer ends of the axle sertions ---1- are the usual hubs -(iof the traction wheels (not shown), said hubs being journaled in the usual manner upon the adjacent ends of the casiug'-2- and are also connected in the well known manner to the rotary drums of ordinary brakes 7-.

In the floating or semi-floating type of axle, there is always more 'or less annular space between the peripheries of the axle sections and adjacent mrtions of'the inclosing ease, thereby estaiblishjng more-or less open passage or communication between the" interiorof the gear and. hralgessq that when the machine in action, the rotary motion of the ditl'erential gears operates .in' u measure to form: the. oil from the interior of the. gear ease through such spaces along the axle sections to the interior of the brake drums which not only reduces the ctliciency of the brakes by causing them to slip but. allows the oil to escape around the periphery of the brake drum where it is thrown or sputtered by centrifugal force over the ad jacent parts of the machine.

These results, coupled with the excessive waste of oil, are, of course, seriousl objectionable, and in order to preventt e esrape or passage of oil from the ear case to the brake drums, I have provided each axle section with a spiral rib 8 secured to the periphery thereof at points between. the. gear case 3 and outer ends of said axle sections, or rather between the gear case and outer ends of the housings which surround said sections so that the peripheries of the ribs will travel in close contact with the inner faces of the housings across the 85 fore, adapted to check the flow of oil from intervening space, said ribs bein pitched to oppose the outward travel 0 the oil through such spacev I have found that a e iral rih of one or more turns with a suitah e pitch toward the "end of a shaft of a proximately is most effective particular y when extended throu h the hub of the wheel or to the end of tie housing which surrounds the outer end of the axle but I have also found that the same spiral rib arranged in the same manner at any point between the differential and outer end of the axle is sufliciently effective to pre vent thepassage ofoil from the gear case to the brake drum and, therefore, I do not wish to limit myself to the exact relative location of this spiral rib except to one or more points on the axle between the differ ential gear case and point of connection between the outer end of the axle and hub of the wheel and also that this spiral rib must be located on the axle section to travel in the intervening space between such axle and the surrounding housing The axles are, of course, adapted to rotate in either direction but are rotated mainly in the directionindicated b arrow X' in driving the machine forwardly and, in order to eflectively retard or prevent the flow of oil by capillary. force or otherwise from the gear oaseto the brake drums, the spiral at the leftband'end of the sectional axle is of right hand pitch while the spiral on the right hand end of the same sectional axle is of left hand pitch, each spiral being, therethe gear case to the corresponding brakes through the adjacent bearings of their respective wheels.

The operation ofmy invention will now the axle sections when the machine is be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing (lescri )tion and the accompanying drawing and, w iile I have shown a articular form of flouting axle and di crential drivin r mechanism therefor, I do not limit myscl to any particular form of differential nor to any Iparticular style of axle other than that wlnci is used in connection with a differential except that certain portions of the-axle sections between the differential and outer wheel bearings and brakes are surrounded by spiral ribs rotating with their respective axle sections or at least located in the spaces between the axle sections and their respective housings so asto prevent the flow of oil from the gear case tothe brakes.

VVha-t I claim is:

The combination with the rear floating axle sections, differential gearing, driving wheels and brake drums of an automobile, of spiral ribs secured directly to the peri hery of said axle sections and immovable-1e ative thereto and extending inwardly from their outer end beyond the inner ends of the brake drums and of such pitch as to feed the lubricant inwardly from the outer ends of repelled forwardly and to reverse the eed when the machine is propelled rearwardl said ribs being slightly spaced from the ax e casing to reduce friction and still maintain the positive return of the lubricant to the differential gear casing.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of September, 1913.

CHARLES s. WEIGELT.

Vlitnesses:

H. E. Cruse, FRANK W. BELKNAP. 

